Mayor
The position of Mayor of San Bernardino is currently held by The Honorable Patrick J. Morris.
"Mayor Patrick J. Morris grew up in Needles, California. He is a graduate of the University of Redlands, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and Stanford University School of Law.
Following duty in the Army Reserve, he served three years as a deputy with the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office. He entered private law practice in 1967, dealing primarily in civil litigation with an emphasis in family law.
Mayor Morris was appointed to the Superior Court Bench in 1976. From 1978 to 1981, he served as San Bernardino County's first full-time Family Law Supervising Judge and organized the court's Family Law Department. His colleagues elected him to an unprecedented three terms as Superior Court Presiding Judge from 1981 to 1984. During these years the Superior Court eliminated its civil case backlog. In 1981, Mayor Morris was named Inland Southern California's Trial Judge of the Year for his outstanding contributions to the administration of justice.
For five years, from 1984 to 1989, Mayor Morris was Presiding Judge of the San Bernardino County Juvenile Court. Mayor Morris' advocacy on behalf of abused and at-risk children led to a number of institutional changes within Juvenile Court and Children's Services in San Bernardino County. He was the founder of the San Bernardino County Children's Network - a comprehensive interagency networking system to coordinate and enhance services to high-risk children. The Network, which includes a children's policy-making council and a public-private foundation (The Children's Fund which has raised and distributed over 15 million dollars to assist at risk children and families in the San Bernardino County), has received national recognition since its inauguration in 1985, both for its innovative design and for its demonstrated ability to improve service to children.
In February 1991, Mayor Morris appeared with Bill Moyers on a National Public Television special entitled, REALIZING AMERICA'S HOPE, a comprehensive initiative to help reform the way America delivers services to its children. In July 1991, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges awarded to Mayor Morris it's highest award for Meritorious Service to the Juvenile Courts of America.
From 1988 to 1991, Mayor Morris co-chaired the Judicial Council of California Advisory Committee on Juvenile Law with a broad mandate to improve California's Juvenile Justice System. In addition to expanding Court Appointed Special Advocacy (CASA) programs throughout the state, the committee wrote Judicial Administration Standard 24, which comprehensively describes the role of Juvenile Court Judges in California.
In 1991, Mayor Morris was appointed by the Chief Justice to a two-year term on the Judicial Council, the constitutionally established policy and rule making body for the California courts which oversees the administration of the State Court System. Mayor Morris has served on the California Select Committee on Judicial Retirement, the Judicial Council Policy Coordination Committee, and the Advisory Committee to Implement the Gender Fairness Proposals. In 1996, he was appointed to serve on the Judicial Council Task Force on Photography, Recording and Broadcasting in the Courtroom and co-authored the minority report which the Judicial Council followed in adopting its new policy.
In 1990, Mayor Morris was elected to a three-year term on the Executive Committee of the California Judges Association and served as President of the Association in 1992 and 1993. As CJA President, Mayor Morris concentrated on building a network of support groups for the courts including rebuilding 23 local Bench-Bar-Media Committees throughout California and republishing an updated Media Guide for the California Courts. He organized a statewide bench-bar coalition to work with lawmakers on issues of court funding. Working with the Chief Justice and attorney Richard Chernick of Los Angeles, he helped organize a business oriented advocacy program for the improvement of the California courts, the Coalition for Justice, and served as an advisory member to the board.
In 1994, the Judicial Council of California inaugurated a Distinguished Service Award to annually honor a member of the California judiciary for his or her leadership and significant contribution to the administration of justice. In April, 1994, in Los Angeles, Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas, on behalf of the Judicial Council of California, honored Mayor Morris by presenting him the first Trial Jurist of the Year Award.
From 1990 to 1996, Mayor Morris served as Supervising Criminal Law Judge and, in 1994, established one of California's first drug treatment court programs. He has advocated statewide, nation-wide and internationally for treatment alternatives for non-violent addicts appearing in the Criminal Justice System. He has twice been invited to the White House to discuss this issue: In 1994 at the signing of the 1994 Anti-Crime Bill, and in 1996 to the White House Leadership Conference on Youth, Drug Use and Violence. In 1996, Mayor Morris was appointed by California Chief Justice, Ron George, to chair the Judicial Council Task Force on Drug Courts in California, and in 1998, was elected Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Drug Court professionals. He has presented the Drug Court concept to international conferences at the United Nations, in Ireland, England and Italy. In 1999 Mayor Morris established one of the nation's first Mental Health Courts to treat the seriously mentally ill caught up in the Criminal Justice System. Mayor Morris recently served as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Courts with a goal of establishing drug and mental health treatment opportunities for parents and youth both in Dependenby and Delinquency Court.
Intensely interested and actively involved in judicial education since 1979, Mayor Morris has led seminars and lectured on a variety of subjects, particularly family and juvenile law, court management and leadership, drug treatment and mental health treatment for addicts, at the California Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) in Berkeley and the National Judicial College in Reno. He has served as Chairperson of the Continuing Judicial Studies Program for CJER. In 1994, the Chief Justice appointed Mayor Morris to a three- year term on the CJER Governing Committee and selected him to chair the Governing Committee in 1996. During his tenure, Mayor Morris chaired the Committee on Minimum Judicial Education which wrote a rule spelling out the expectations for career-long education for the California judiciary. Mayor Morris also successfully advocated unifying the governing boards of the judicial and administrative education programs.
Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court Bench, Mayor Morris served as President of the San Bernardino Board of Education. He has been a member of the University of Redlands Board of Trustees since 1971.
Mayor Morris lives with his wife Sally in San Bernardino. Their daughter, Katie, is a graduate of the University of Redlands and California State University at San Bernardino. She is the owner of Inland Empire Gymnastics Academy located in San Bernardino. Their son, Jim, is a graduate of Dartmouth college, UCLA Law School and the UCLA School of Urban Planning. He is serving as a Deputy County Counsel for the County of San Bernardino."
(Biography retrieved from the Mayor's website; link available below)
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